G-Man: A Bob Lee Swagger Novel

Hunter’s outstanding 10th Bob Lee Swagger novel (after 2014’s Sniper’s Honor) takes readers back to the gangster days of the 1930s. In the present, Swagger investigates the murky past of his grandfather, Charles, a hard, taciturn man who spent most of his life as the sheriff of Polk County, Ark. Flashbacks reveal that Charles was also a skilled marksman who took a leading role in the Justice Department’s 1934 manhunt for bank robbers John Dillinger, Pretty Boy Floyd, and, most importantly, the frighteningly violent Les Gillis (aka Baby Face Nelson). The problem for Swagger is the lack of any record of Charles ever working as a G-man, though there’s ample rumor and hearsay that he was deeply immersed in the campaign to hunt down and kill the outlaws. Hunter’s skilled ear for dialogue and idiom has never been better, and some of the action scenes—especially a chapter describing the famous robbery of the Merchants National Bank in South Bend, Ind., on June 30, 1934—are as elegant as they are disturbing. [em]Eight-city author tour. Agent: Esther Newberg, ICM. (May) [/em]